Half Past Gone
by mirrorshade
Summary: Rose and the Doctor are separated on an alien world. Trying to find each other, they get some unexpected outside help. Slightly AU, TenRose.
1. Chapter 1

**Half Past Gone**

**Chapter One**

_Rose Tyler was once again experiencing the 'enjoyable' high of her own fight-or-flight instinct. Hand-in-hand with the Doctor, they flew down the sandy beach of the supposedly quiet planet of Xak-Tsaroth – trying to escape from the traders who had taken a fancy to the two exotic foreigners. _

_In response to her delighted laugh at the sight of the TARDIS, the Doctor threw her a grin over his shoulder, dark eyes twinkling with merriment. The cock-sure expression, however, faltered when her gaze moved from her face to over her shoulder. Though she didn't have time to turn and look, she soon understood why he looked so grim. _

_She felt something coil around her ankle, as her hand was ripped from his as she fell. She was only able to look up from the ground as she was surrounded, the Doctor's voice still ringing in her ears._

Everybody in Cardiff, heading about their business in the morning hours, weren't quite sure what to make of the odd blonde girl. She was dressed in a pure white t-shirt which was falling off her shoulders, with loose trousers of the same shade, the colour having the effect of making her look far more pale than she actually was. Hair that would have been blonde when clean was more brown than blonde from dirt and a streak of an oil-like substance in it.

She shuffled along the waterfront, her gait unsteady and dark eyes focused on some faraway point. She seemed to emanate sorrow and childlike confusion, completely unaware of her surroundings which caused most to stare curiously and then shiver when the brown eyes passed over them, averting their own eyes.

She slumped in the doorway of a house, legs collapsing under her as a haze passed over her eyes once more. What she didn't expect was somebody to come out of the house, nor the blessedly familiar voice that rang out as the door opened.

"Rose!"


	2. Chapter 2

Half Past Gone

This has turned into a cross-over with Torchwood. It has also managed to mutate itself into TenRoseJack. I hope nobody minds (and if you do then it's your problem, really, and I say that in the nicest way possible). It contains references to Torchwood episodes, namely 'Cyberwoman'. If I've gotten any facts wrong, please point them out!

Deine Rachael

**Chapter Two**

Jack Harkness had thought of all kinds of different scenarios to how he would next meet the Doctor and Rose. Most ended with him having the final say, the closure, being able to walk away with his head held high. They would be the ones clearly guilty for abandoning him; he could finally lay it to rest and move on with his half-life. He knew, though he knew that in reality Rose's sweet smile and the Doctor's charm would have him completely at their mercy. His life wasn't even a half of what it was when he was around those two, completely taken in and considered family (despite his constant hope that it would grow into something more). He couldn't think about that, though. To consider it was to acknowledge his affection for them, that they'd become a unit and he needed, wanted that back. Gwen didn't, couldn't know the answer to her question of 'Have you ever loved anybody that much?'. He had, desperately. But he hadn't told any of them about his past, hadn't explained why he watched so meticulously for any signs of the Doctor from any of the Torchwood bases. Hadn't told them the identity of the blonde girl he kept such a careful eye out for whenever he was fed CCTV footage of the Doctor.

Despite the pain of his abandonment, which would never leave him, he sometimes woke from his dreams expecting to hear the reverberating hum of the TARDIS, and see Rose and the Doctor nearby, their voices washing over him like usual. He still hadn't stopped feeling depressed when the half-awake image faded into his office, the hum not from the TARDIS but from the Hub's computer system.

One scenario he hadn't thought of was heading out of the Hub the morning and finding a delirious Rose on it's doorstep. He crouched next to her, torn between ecstatic joy, anger and contrasting worry. He did consider just turning his back, but he knew that he would never be able to live with himself if he left the woman he had loved (and loved still) alone, and visibly ill. He hadn't expected to see her like this; her dilated pupils showed that she was suffering from a strong drug in her system, adding to her confusion, and his worry. She looked so incredibly fragile she looked like she would crack underneath his fingertips if he touched her - lilac veins so clear they looked like they had been painted on.

"Jack?" Her voice was barely a whisper now, as her eyes trailed slowly over his face. The slowly, dawning recognition mixed with a terrible sadness on the familiar, gentle face.

"That's right, Rosie. It's me"

"No, you're not Jack" Her head shook slowly, weak vehemence in the face of what could not possibly be true to her.

He frowned "I'm not?"

Rose continued in a soft, hopeless tone, choking back the tears that clouded her fuzzy vision even more "Jack's dead. You can't be him, he died" The sentence broke something hard and angry in side of him. He pulled her towards him and picked her up, he weak struggles ceasing after barely a second.

He walked back into the Hub, glad that it waas too early for any of his collegues to be there. It would be hard enough explaining why he was carrying a girl around, nonetheless how he knew her. He jogged into his office and went down into his own quarters and sat down on the bed, watching her watch him with misplaced grief. A smile, too broken to be beautiful, appeared on her face after a few moments, and she leaned forward to lean against him, her muffled voice reaching him from where she had hidden her face in his shirt.

"I wish you were real, Jack" He swallowed hard and blinked rapidly in reply to the heartbroken sentence "I really do wish you were real."

"I am real" He whispered back, but too late. Rose was already asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again. I forgot to mention last time, but this episode is probably placed sometime after The Satan Pit. Mostly because I love the prophetic 'valiant child' but I hate Love & Monsters. The _italics_ are flashbacks, of Rose's obviously.

* * *

_From her position inside her tiny cell in the slaver transport, Rose listened to the bustling of the three-man crew. The Captain was a dark-skinned 'Neo-human' called Jas, who ruled the 'Bad Wolf' with an iron fist – he knew every single inch of his ship, top to bottom, with his nephew Jayden following in his footsteps. In contrast, his second-in-command Markl was a 'soft touch', kind to everybody, which was odd considering his profession. However, Rose was grateful for his presence, as he was often the one who took the edge off of Jas' temper._

_Rose looked sideways at her 'cellmate', Brywen. Brywen was an alien from the planet she and the Doctor had been visiting. Xak-Tsaroth natives, like Brywen, had dark hair and skin, but violet, pupil-less eyes. Though perturbed at first, Rose had soon been able to see why slavers took so much interest in them – both men and women tended towards extreme beauty. Brywen smiled over at her, sharp canines flashing before the head of long, curly hair tilted back towards the window of the cell, which only showed a view of space, space and more space. _

_They exchanged looks of mutual un-enthusiasm as the distinct sound of Jas' boots grew louder. As he appeared in the doorway, his grin was one of a man whose type her mother had always warned her about. It made her feel uncomfortable in her own skin, for a start._

"_Well girls" Both girls shivered at his tone "Let's see if I can't get the truth out of you **this** time"_

Rose snapped upwards, grappling with her sheets as the dream continued. Half-awake, but still half dreaming, she tried to take stock of her surroundings and failed. She froze instinctively when a pair of hands grabbed her, the strong grip holding her in place while a familiar male voice called out for her.

She stared at the man leaning over her, blinked and stared while he leaned back, cocky smile at the ready.

"Jack?" She exhaled the name, disbelieving.

"In the flesh" He grinned at her, though instead of reminding her of how she had seen him last, she instead thought of the RAF officer she had met in the London Blitz. Shallow, slightly bitter and fake. She would have been reminded of that if she had been able to process anything other than the fact that Jack was alive, in front of her. She gathered what strength was left in her body and flung herself across the short distance, arms going around his torso as she grabbed on for dear life, feeling him hug her back with just as much ferocity. She buried her face in his neck, tears welling up on their own even though she felt like she had used up her stores of tears on the ship. Her joy wasn't just for seeing Jack again, but joy at seeing **any** face again, on Earth. Sitting next to Brywen she even would have given anything just to see _Darren Pye's_ face again, none the less Jack's. She knew her nails were going to leave marks of his back and her shoulders were starting to hurt from his strong grip but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Thought you were dead" She muttered into his shoulder, gulping back more tears without much success. He pulled back slightly, smiling at her with red-rimmed eyes and she couldn't bring herself to be surprised when he leaned back in and planted a more-than-friendly kiss straight on her mouth. She grinned at him when he pulled away.

"Miss me?"


End file.
